OPEC Won't Act Unless Oil Exceeds $100 - Kuwait SPC

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries won't act in its upcoming March meeting in Vienna unless crude oil prices exceed $100 a barrel, a member of Kuwait's Supreme Petroleum Council said Tuesday.

"OPEC will not consider it an alarming event if oil hits $100 as we have become accustomed to oil at $100 a barrel," SPC member Imad Al Atiqi told Zawya Dow Jones in an interview.

Al Atiqi said even if crude hits $100 a barrel, prices will have to demonstrate they are being driven by a real trend rather than volatility.

"We (OPEC) will see when it reaches the $100 mark and how long it will take to break resistance, and go even further before acting," he said.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February were down 39 cents to $82.13 a barrel Tuesday at 0730 GMT. Crude hit $83.95 on Monday, the highest intraday level since October 2008, as China's crude oil imports surged by nearly 25% in December.

OPEC's next scheduled meeting is due to be held in Vienna on March 17.